Specsavers’ Ingenious Glaucoma Ads Turn Blind Spots into Awareness: A Groundbreaking Way Visualising this Invisible Threat
Glaucoma, often called the “sneak thief of sight,” is a silent predator that gradually robs people of their vision, often without them realising it.
I first learnt of the expression in the mid 1990’s from my eye specialist, Dr. Hardeep Singh, who was more obsessed in becoming a copy writer than an ophthamologist.
It’s a condition that can go undetected for years as the brain cleverly fills in the gaps, masking the damage.
But what if we could see what glaucoma does before it’s too late?
In an ingenious campaign blending medical awareness with advertising innovation, Specsavers and Nord DDB Stockholm have crafted a groundbreaking way to visualise this invisible threat.
Using digital billboards, TV commercial vignettes, and AI-driven technology, they’ve created ads that mimic the very symptoms of glaucoma—making everyday objects and even famous landmarks seemingly vanish before your very eyes.
I wish there were creative campaigns during my time to make me understand in simple terms the severity of glaucoma.
When Sight Deceives You
“When it comes to glaucoma, those affected can go years without noticing, as their brain compensates for the missing details,” explains Nord DDB creative Anders Hellström in an interview with Little Black Book’s Tará McKerr.
“With this in mind, we wanted to raise awareness by creating a campaign that not only educates people about this condition but also makes it ridiculously easy to understand.”
The execution?
A series of billboards and digital activations that simulated glaucoma’s effects in real time.
As people stopped to look at a sign featuring a well-known landmark, they experienced a disorienting moment—the landmark suddenly disappeared.
What remained was a striking and unsettling realisation: this is what glaucoma does to your vision.
AR, AI, and the Power of the Unexpected
Urban Wirdheim, another creative behind the campaign, shared that the team developed an AI and AR-powered algorithm trained to live-stream famous landmarks at specific locations and erase them when people stopped to look.
“It was a process filled with plenty of trial and error to get it right,” Urban admitted.
And the most thrilling part?
“The funny thing is that we didn’t know it would work properly before actually installing it into a billboard,” Urban recalls.
“Guess our excitement when we turned it on and our first landmark went poof!”
The Red Thread of Disappearing Objects
The campaign followed a simple yet compelling theme—things disappearing that should really be there.
This concept extended across multiple formats, ensuring the message resonated across various touchpoints.
“At first, many thought that the billboards were providing information about the actual landmark, like info screens for tourists,” says Anders.
“But when the landmark went missing as they stopped to look, people got curious.”
This curiosity turned into understanding, which in turn became action—a key objective of the campaign.
A Creative Collaboration That Sees the Bigger Picture
According to project lead Magnus Tengzelius, Specsavers’ openness to creative risk played a crucial role in the campaign’s success.
“Specsavers are phenomenal at understanding and valuing creative work, which isn’t surprising because they’ve always been good at that,” he said.
The campaign didn’t stop at eye-catching ads.
Ahead of World Glaucoma Day, an extensive PR push saw Specsavers opticians and eye doctors highlight the importance of regular eye exams.
This proactive approach not only amplified awareness but also translated into real-world impact.
Results That Speak Volumes
While still in its early stages, the campaign has received overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Most importantly, it has driven a significant increase in eye examination bookings—proving that when advertising meets innovation with a purpose, the results can be life-changing.
By turning blind spots into powerful moments of awareness, Specsavers and Nord DDB have crafted more than just a campaign.
They’ve created a vital public health intervention—one that might just help countless individuals spot the “sneak thief of sight” before it’s too late.
As someone who has experienced this first hand, I can’t stress this enough.
I discovered I had lost vision in my left eye due to advanced macular degeneration (AMD) caused by ocular pressure, and now I rely entirely on my right eye.
This experience has reinforced the sheer importance of regular eye pressure checks and professional treatment, especially for those in high-stress industries like advertising and marketing.
The pressures of our profession can take a toll in more ways than one, and ensuring we safeguard our vision before it’s too late is a message that cannot be ignored.
Credits:This article is inspired by Little Black Book’s original interview with Nord DDB Stockholm, conducted by Tará McKerr. All insights from agency creatives and campaign leads are credited to their respective sources.
